Older Games
`Fon (fawn faun)--Harbinger Brief bio / concept: Fon is an ex high-roller from the 1250s in english-speaking europe. He grew to become a master shapeshifter, and after his family died, he went into nature and lived many life-times as various animals all the while developing his powers. During this time he developed a very close empathy for all living things, and became incredibly powerful. He fathered and mothered many children of many different species, and began to have a very close kinship with nature. Many of his first generation children (the only generation he cares about) were killed directly by humans, and he re-joined human society in 1910. He implanted himself within the womb of a woman in Whitehorse canada and was “raised” to the age of “20” before he left human society again with a new purpose: to stop humans from upsetting the balance of nature. From 1930 to 2010 he developed a plan and began establishing bases of operation around the world. He drafted three veteran high-rollers into his service, altering them and giving them additional shape-shifting powers. Now he invites others into games, using their talents and goals to further his own, but, little known to him, the unseen ones are doing the same to him. Supernatural powers: Nearly one hundred percent of Fon's power stem from his own, personal abilities. He has no reliance on magical artifacts, clothes, or anything besides himself. One of his first powers he was granted as a gift when he was a high-roller was the basic ability to shape-shift. He quickly grew to equal his master in power, and studied his powers over many years, allowing him to further his talents without a teacher. This is where he stands now. Personal shape-shifting abilities: * Fon is able to alter his shape at will. Usually his forms are inspired by nature, but he can take completely unnatural forms if he desires. *He is not able to create any non-biological substance like stone or such for his forms. * Fon is able to take a form that has a body mass equal or less to his current form's very, very quickly. Usually such shifts take less than a second. * When taking a form that has more body mass than his current form, he requires slightly more time. He is able to add 200 lbs per second to his weight in bursts of 20 seconds. During this time, he rolls at +2 difficulty with all his rolls. *Fon does not gain the strengths of any creature he transforms into beyond their physical capabilities. If he transforms into a dragon, for instance, he won't be able to fly unless the dragon is physically capable of flying without magic. * One of Fon's most powerful and complex abilities is the ability to split his body and consciousness into many separate entities. For example, Fon can burst into a swarm of bees to escape an attacker or enter a building unseen. In cases like these, one of the creatures is the “leader” and holds fon's conscious mind and spirit. The leader can call for the rest of the creatures to attempt to convene at his location (from any distance) or to follow him. Re-solidification yields a form equal to the weight of the creatures that made it to the location. After re solidification there is a three second cool-down for any of his other abilities. If the leader creature is killed, his consciousness passes into the nearest other creature that used to be a part of him. This takes a day, and all other creatures he was a part of lose direction until the leader creature manifests itself. If all creatures are killed, Fon dies and has to go through steps to come back to life if he's progressed that far. The leader animal can sense the location of all other pieces roughly, and can terminate their lives at will. Fon's greatest power is his ability to use his shape shifting powers on living creatures besides himself. * With a little concentration, Fon is able to shapeshift others. This takes him twice as long, as with himself, or only 1.3 times as long if he is making physical contact with that person. * For non-sentient, intelligent creatures the difficulty is much easier. Wildlife and plants can quickly be manipulated to his will at the same rate he would change his own body. He can manipulate many plants at once. *With more time, Fon will be able to alter huge swaths of the population selectively while meditating uninterrupted. This is a list of several special abilities that have been derived from Fon's shape shifting mastery that he is familiar with and can use with ease. *Fon, when attacking up to two foes, can cause the skull to grow inwards in spikes upon the brain. This requires Fon's full attention, and deals any number of aggravated damage against any foe that would be hurt by brain damage. In addition, the GM rolls two 6's and gives that many points of physical or mental flaws (that are related to the brain) per turn. Player rolls five dice (difficulty 10 – conviction); for each failed roll, that player suffers one extra derangement related to his/her past. *Fon can spit reactive chemicals in large amount great distances. These are biological like the bombardier beetle's, and explode with force greater than dynamite *Fon can also breath fire in the same way that behaves like napalm. Biography: 800 years ago, Fon was a reletively normal medeval man, lower class. He had a wife and children, but he started getting invited to games because of his skill with a bow and arrow. He was able to hunt the king's deer without fear of being caught, he was so sly. He participated in many games. His most notable gifts were the ability to shape shift using only internal energy, the ability to manipulate souls, and a quick-learning modification. One day while he was out at town, the king's men went to his house and murdered his entire family. Apparently he was not as careful as he thought. Fon entered a fit of depression and ran away from human society. He shifted his shape into a wolf (the only shape he had mastered) and struck out. Over the next 650 years or so he lived as many different animals Web of knowledge and Disciples: Fon has a somewhat simple but extensive web of intel gathering. She has three main Disciples who each have their own group of subordinates. All knowledge flows in a one-way link through spirit link magic. The disciples can access all knowledge that their webs posess, and Fon can do the same to his disciples. This flow of knowledge doesn't work backwards. Spies have not been granted any special powers by Fon and are drafted, many times unknowingly into his circle of knowledge through a simple ritual involving eating a pomegranate seed tainted by Fon. Right now there are 900 spies in the network, and each disciple has about 300 in his/her “command”. Fon has three disciples. Each one has a different function. Kelly (Fon's Mouth): Kelly plays a similar function to Sauron's mouth. She is not evil, and far more subtle, though. She is Fon's messenger and manipulator. She is a grand master culturist Disciples call him Fon, Fawn, or Faun based on personality. Game1: I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests ' Fon or messengers come with a message. Fon's letters say the following: “Hello, name I'm writing to offer you a chance to go to a game. There your life will be risked, but I promise great rewards to those who survive. If you are not interested, please stop reading. Glad to have you on board. You will be traveling to Tocantins, Brazil, and will catch a connecting flight I have arranged to Pará. There you must find the beast with uncloven hoof and slay it with the dagger provided. Do not remove the dagger from its sheathe until you are ready to use it, and do not move the corpse or weapon when you are done. You may now ask for the dagger. Bring any weapons you want. I will make sure security doesn't give you any trouble. Thank you and good luck, fawn, faun” Players take a normal plane(s) to Tocantins, Brazil. There they meet up with a man carrying a sign with all of their names on it. Chris Hanes is 5' 4” tall, white, stubby beard. He's slightly plump, and is wearing a brown leather jacket with fur trim, black jeans, and a pilot's cap with goggles. Nature/Dememor: Thrill seeker. He has piloting and engineering skills. The players and Chris board a Cessna 180 bush plane. Halfway through the flight the plane's engines sputter and stop. Chris grabs a wrench and asks the players to take the wheel and while he goes outside. He opens the door and climbs out, fixes something behind the wing and comes back in, satisfied. The engine starts up again Players land in a town named Água Azul do Norte, a small little town with a road east back to São Félix do Xingu. The town has fields to the south that they farm. Every single person there (especially those in stores) know of the “un-contacted” native tribe of Ingarune. They walk down from the mountains north to trade on occasion. They trade baskets and talismans (art). The players walk up to the Ingarune tribe's village. It has about 100 people in it, and the ground is all dry because it is the dry season. There is one man who speaks English, and he takes them to the shaman's hut. The shaman tells (through an interpreter) him that there is a giant monster called a drought drinking all of the water. He really doesn't know what he's talking about; he just heard that word from the townspeople down the street players with high linguistics might realize that the word drought has orgins in old english drūgoth. He may also tell of how the villiage is in awful shape. Since the river has run relatively dry, the villiagers have gotten sick. They don't really have a problem with getting water, but the river had mystical healing properties and now they are getting sick. They offer to escort you to kill the drought (if the players haven't realized and mentioned that drought monsters don't exist). They also emplore you if you cannot kill the drought and return the healing water to their village to pay for medicine (it's really cheap, like 500 bucks would be more than enough). They are proud, but not above asking for help. The english interpriter is too valuable to go, unless persuaded, and the players get two hunters that don't speak english to go with them. The hunters have five in area knowledge and four in survival. They both wield bows and arrows. After a several hour hike through the forest, the gamers come across an ancient, overgrown incan ruin. This is odd that it is so far from other Incan locations, but not explained because I'm lazy. Players with science or survival might notice the guarana plant that grows naively is abundant. There is totally a way to climb over the walls, but the room with the beast is covered in a Gothic masonry celing with holes only the size of a brick. has the dry riverbed running through it. At the wall of each room, there are bars that are barely far enough apart to squeeze through if the players want to. About the size of a tennis racket. Consider only letting double jointed team mates attempt a through. Stone supports aqueduct celing above, breaking inadvisable. After a room and a long hallway, the players come to a roughly circular room with only half of the ceiling remaining. In it are two large stone statues, clearly Gothic architecture. 10 feet tall. As soon as a single player enters the middle of the room, the two statues come alive and begin to attack all living creatures. Statues do not soak damage from heavy weapons (hammers, clubs, explosives) 10 health levels 8 soak dice 4 dex, 2dodge 7 strength 5 melee Each weilds a heavy bo staff made of stone that does Strength + 3 bashing, and a clawed foot that can do 10 leathal as long as the opponent is laying on the ground. They move slowly, but herd the opponents into tight spots. Game 2: switch attributes between players temporarily? Create an avatar with averaged stats? Game 3: visiting one of fon's grottos. Game 4: Protecting a child of Fon Game 5: being dropped in the middle of a battle. Enemies turn out to be small children. Game 6: Simple task disguised as something insanely complex. Game 7: Men building something for destruction. “I saw a room full of men with their hammer a bleedin'” '''Game 8, I saw a white ladder all covered with water: '''Fon's mouth comes along with the group to visit an Archipelago in the South Atlantic. An underground lair is found where Fon's mason friend, Gralam once lived. Scene 1: “Hello again, name I need you to acquire an ancient sword for me. It is made of silver and inwroght with little pictures and words. I'm sure you'll know it when you see it. This job is incredibly dangerous which is why I'm sending my mouth along with you for protection. If you can return the sword to my contact, I will reward you greatly. Use the provided ticket to get to Liberia if you accept. There you will get further instructions. Bring any weapons you want. I'll make sure security doesn't give you any trouble. Good luck, fawn, faun.” The players are taken to Greenville, Liberia. They are put on a 100 foot worn-down white boat named The Dogged Muscle. It is run by Captain Martin Foley, a sea-hardened merc. His job is paramount and it takes very little provocation for him to brag that he follows all orders from his employers. Things that Fon requested on the boat: * A ladder to be installed on the side of the boat. Kelly could climb out * New weapons to be made available to the gamers and crew. are silver. No explosives * Cargo that only Kelly has access to. rokea betweener prisoner, Wave-Crest * Removal of all fishing gear from the boat * Orders not to dump any trash or waste off the ship *The addition of a landing boat, which is very uncharacteristic of a ship this size. the gamers can get ashore If a gamer breaks into the cargo hold, the Rokea won't have much except information for them. His is pierced many times by silver chains, holding him in a silver cage. The Cage and chains are imbued with diamond spirits, and are nearly unbreakable. Wave-Crest can detect the eight Rokea below the ship. He might give a little background on the Rokea as well. When the boat approaches the spires of the archipelago, Fon's mouth will call all to the top of the boat and address the Rokea in the water below. If any players can understand French, she'll be speaking an archaic variant: “Oh mighty Slew of the Archipelago. We come to you as harmless visitors, not malicious intruders. Our ship only wishes to unload a party onto the nearby unsea. As a gift we have caught one who swims between, a betrayer of your customs. Take his life and spare ours.” A moment after she's done talking, a crew member begins to choke grasp at his neck. Preceptive players might notice that he's grown gills. Kelly knows this is an attack and orders the players to take the landing boat to shore while she distracts the attackers. The mouth dives off the edge and becomes a massive serpent to ward off and kill attacking rokea. It will take her a couple turns to start distracting them and wiping them out. Attacking Rokea: Level 5 Brightwater with Ocean's peace (+30 initiative), and drown. Living sea (4 leathal damage each turn), water chokes. Narke's gift ( 6 dice of leathal shock soakable once) The bends ( 8 dice of soakable leathal in water wound penalties incraesed by one) First feeling (7 dice of difficulty four minus courage roll turns of being afraid of water for one target) Scene 2: The group heads down a stone stairwell and eventually comes to a massive cavern. This cavern would be considered the greatest artistic achievement of mankind if anyone knew about it. It's been carved with thousands of statues along the outside wall. The stairwell leads to one wall and a massive bridge that crosses it. There they find a giant throne and stairs that lead down in front of it. On the throne is a recently slain corpse with the same type of dagger that they players used in the last game. It is clutching a note written in archaic French. Those who speak french can roll intelligence plus linguistics to try to decipher it: “My dearest Gralam, I would be surprised that you didn't give up searching for me after all these years, but it was never like you to leave a job half-done. It warms my heart that you still remember us. I'm sorry I could not give you the pleasure of a face-to-face meeting. You certainly deserve it. You already know what I'm going to say. I warned you before I left that those with something to take will some day have it stolen. Now you sit in confinement, content with your prize, searching. I've woken up, Gralam, and I need all that you can offer. I'm so sorry. An old friend” Scene 3: Down the stairs is a archway that says “Trials Three” in olde English. The Trials: Thought (Riddles), Simplicity (bridge puzzle), Brawn (The foes). For the riddles the players enter a large room with a semi-circle of statues in it. Each has a brazer with a quill, paper, and ink next to it. On the base of each statue is a riddle. Hopefully the players will understand that they're supposed to write the answer to the riddle on the paper and drop it into the fire. Answer: Night Thieves love me, children fear me. Daily falling, never breaking Work stalling, sight forsaking Answer: Tomorrow: I never was, am always to be, None ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all Who live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. Anwer: Horse: (in french) Between two legs the living flesh ambles, Between two buttocks the living flesh trembles, And when it comes to the door, Its master knocks. A back-up riddle: Answer: lice Those that we caught we threw away; Those that we didn't catch, we kept. Simplicity: The players then come to a room with a moat crossing their way. It is not long enough to jump over or step across. There is a pile of igneous rock to their right that would easily float in the water. For every party member who didn't swim across, add one enemy. The players get to a large coliseum. The far wall is a massive statue scene with ares holding the sword they're looking for. Enemies fall down, two of the guys from the last game (or three if there are lots of players): Statues do not soak damage from heavy weapons (hammers, clubs, explosives) 10 health levels 8 soak dice 4 dex, 2dodge 7 strength 5 melee Each weilds a heavy bo staff made of stone that does Strength + 3 bashing, and a clawed foot that can do 10 leathal as long as the opponent is laying on the ground. There is also a second type of enemy. Numbers vary based on how well or poorly the gamers did on the previous puzzles. Quadrupedal lizardy guys: 6 health levels 5 soak dice 4 dex, 4 dodge 4 strength 4 brawl Grapple Dexterity + Brawl (or Soft Martial Arts), Difficulty: 6 Description: The attacker needs successes greater than the target's Strength. A target who has been successfully grappled can attempt to break loose; this will usually be Dexterity + Brawl or Strength + Brawl, depending on the action. The target needs successes equal to those achieved by the attacker. The attacker has the option to spend his action preventing the target from breaking loose, in which case the target must gain successes equal to the total of those originally achieved by the attacker, plus those the attacker achieves this round. Damage: None Damage Type: None Modifiers: None if the gamers beat all the foes, the statue drops the sword and the players win the game. Game 9: I saw a room full of men with their hammers a bleedin' Fon sends the gamers into the north boreal forest of Canada to deal with a science facility. “You don't need to be subtle; you need to be effective.” '''Game 10: Where the executioner's face is always well-hidden. ' A “rouge” kinfolk to the glasswalkers of Singapore is assaulted in her tower by a pack of werewolf assassins. A glasswalker from the same pack hires the outside help of Pierre, the assassin, to kill of the leader of the assaulting pack in a mad power struggle. Fon, who orchestrated the whole thing, hires the gamers to kill Pierre, who has been hired to kill one of Fon's old contacts as his next job. '''The place: Capital tower, Singapore City. The players: Aisyah binti Musa Born into a local glass-walker tribe, she had had three kids by age 20. She was then married off to a corporate leader for clout. When he husband died, she took control of the company, and made billions of dollars. Today she is the controller of a 3.6 billion dollar net worth, and is considered one of the richest females on earth. Her business, Capitaland, has made her ever more influential and rich. Her checkered past with the Glass Walkers make her a target for “removal.” All that needs to be done is a little push here or there. . . Julia Breaker: Leader of the Singapore Corporate Dogs. Accused of being a big softie, her power position is not in a good spot. Investments in the insurance industry have put a big bind on the local Glass Walkers' money supply. In order to earn back a some credit, she will go after Aisya personally. Cleon Winston: Up-and-coming Glass Walker in the local division. Wants to steal power out from underneath Kiera with underhanded tactics. A master of subterfuge, he doesn't believe she's fit to lead. Pierre: A middle-aged career killer and ex-gamer. He and his long-lost brother are known to have wyrm taint. His goal in life is to protect his brother, and ensure that the Garou never kill him, however, he lost contact with his brother 24 years ago. Today he works as a contract killer with a specialty of Garou. If he kills all the Garou, he will save his brother, right? Adrian: Pierre's brother. After losing contact with his brother, Adrian became a mercenary. He was recently hired as part of an elite force, and quickly worked his way up the ranks. His mercenary force “Delta” are guns for hire who don't ask questions, but kill without mercy. What is happening: Aisyah is planning on building near one of Fon's friend's haunts. Fon has dropped hints that this is a bad idea, but Aisyah doesn't believe him. The local glass-walker pack has discovered this as well, as it is walled off in the umbra. Fon drops hints to them not to go. They don't listen. Cleon hires a hit on Julia with Pierre in a power struggle. Fon's mouth gets Aisyah to attack and kill a couple kinfolk. Julia decides to attack Aisyah in retaliation and as a publicity stunt. Pierre gets information (fed by Fon) that the attack is taking place, and decides this would be a good time to strike. Cleon urges Pierre to kill everyone he sees in the area, as Cleon is enemies to all of them. Aisyah hires the Delta to protect her on a tip from Pierre, but pierre was fed faulty information and underestimates the number of attacking werewolves massively. Fon pulls even more strings and gets Adrian put on the top floor of the Capital Tower at odds with Pierre. Zero Hour: 3:20 AM July 18th 8:45: sunset 3:00: Pierre begins his ascent to the top of the tower by climbing. 3:05: Glass walker strike force lands a helicopter at the top of the building, using spirits to redirect missiles sent at them. They drop 12 assassins, including Julia on top of the building and the helicopter flies off to return when the call is given. 3:15: Pierre reaches top of building and kills all remaining enemies. 3:18: Pierre finds the remains of Adrian. 3:20: Gamers should be arriving about now 3:30: Werewolf helicopter flies outside the window to gain intel on the situation. 3:50: Glass Walkers return to pick up corpses and finish any unfinished business. Cleon is with them. The players still in the building will need to run the fuck away from them. The elevators are not safe, nor is the roof. 6:30: sunrise Intro: “Hello gamer, A little unforeseen circumstance has come up with my interests in Singapore. An old friend of mine has had a hit put out on him. He may very well be capable of defending himself, but my friends are very valuable, and I don't want to take the risk. My eyes have gathered information about the assassin's next target. I want you to intercept him during his next job and kill him. If you accept, transport will be provided. Bring all the weapons and items you want and I'll make sure security doesn't give you any trouble. More information and resources will be available upon arrival. Good luck, Fawn, Faun” Players are brought to The Sail @ Marina Bay hotel and put in a penthouse suite overlooking the Capital Tower. On the table they find a Dossier in a folder and a briefcase full of orange Singapore dollars. It has two thousand 100 dollar bills in it, totaling about 147,000 American dollars. The Dossier: The mission: The objective is simple: kill the assassin “Pierre.” The strike is expected to take place right before 3:20 AM on July 18th. Strings have been pulled to ensure the target does not leave the top room of the building for an estimated 30 minutes. Apparently the target's victim has been tipped off. She has hired Delta, a mercenary group, to protect her. They are very dangerous and will shoot to kill. Entering the building much earlier that night will likely be extremely risky. Entering the building during the day and staying the night may be possible, but little information is available about the mercenaries' activities. The Capital Tower: The top three stories of the building are the personal quarters of Aisyah binti Musa, CEO of CapitaLand. The assassin is expected to be in those quarters from approximately 3:20AM to 3:50AM. Again, this is the ideal time to strike. Arriving in the penthouse suite before 3:20 could be deadly. The building is expected go into lockdown at sunset for the duration of the night. Capital Tower is 52 stories tall and served by 5 shuttle double deck elevator lifts. The lifts can load 3,540 kg and travel at a speed of 10m/s. Blueprints are available, but I should point out several places of interest. 1. The Roof: Equipped with two helipads, the roof will likely be guarded heavily. Be very careful if you plan to use the roof as an entry. It offers a possible pick-up point and easy top-level entrance. 2. The Front Doors: During the day, these are open to the public. They offer excellent access to the elevators. During the lock down, they are expected to be heavily guarded. Entry at night through the front door would almost certainly result in not only a fire-fight, but a building-wide alert as well. 3. The Interior Stairs: The interior stairwells of the building are usually only used as a fire safety measure. They may seem like a good place to make the ascension to the upper floor, but a single guard with a radio communication could alert every level to the intruders or fill the stairwell with gunfire. Not suggested. 4. The Elevators: The elevators might seem obvious, but they are a very simple way to get to the top of the building. Consider using if coming from inside. 5. The Loading Garage: This garage is where most of the backdoor activity is during the day. It is usually guarded with one or two security guards, NOT mercenaries. During the lockdown, this will likely be as heavily guarded as the front door. If you can get in, though, if offers an excellent way to get to the garage. 6. The Foundation: accessible only through the garage, the foundation of Capital Tower is a point of surprisingly weak structural integrity. Powerful explosives at strategic points could catalyze an implosion of the building. This would result in low collateral damage to the area surrounding the building, but complete decimation of the tower itself. No fewer than 15 janitorial staff, every mercenary still inside the building, and Over 5,000 jobs would be lost as a direct result. You would, however, kill the assassin if the blast was timed well. 7. Exterior: The exterior of the building is relatively smooth and would be difficult, but not impossible, to climb. The use of ropes or zip lines to get to the penthouse suite is a possible option. Charges or some other form of specialized tool will be necessary to get past the glass. Roof access is also possible from this approach. 8. Security Center: The main lobby floor also houses the building's security center. This room controls all security cameras and building functionality, and will likely be the HQ of the lockdown attempt. Control of this point is control of the lockdown. The Target: Eyes: unknown Height: unknown Hair: Unknown Gender: M Name: unknown Aliases: Pierre preferred, Marquis de décès, Frog legs discouraged, L'ange de la douleur Bio: First attributed assassination in 1986. Several non-political business deaths also attributed. Killings dropped in mid-nineties, returned in 2006. The target's personal life is shrouded in mystery. There is no official way to contact him. Some say he is a vigilante, but most agree that he is simply a difficult to hire career killer. In some circles, “Wish upon Pierre” is a common saying stemming from the rumored appearance of the target to only those wishing to commission him. Intelligence has been able to confirm that it is indeed just one man, though further details are unavailable. Subject is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. It is recommended that as many party members as possible are in the penthouse when you confront him. Delta: A powerful mercenary group has been hired to protect Aisyah from the expected assassination attempt. They are usually hired by governments for special ops and high-risk security positions. Their presence in this situation will likely make your job a thousand times more difficult. Deltas have gotten a reputation among mercenaries for being ruthless and heartless. They WILL shoot first, and they WILL shoot to kill. Bloodshed can best be avoided by not being seen. The Hotel: This hotel room is being provided as a base of operations. You have probably already noticed that there is an excellent view of the Capital Tower from this particular room. The balcony can be used as an observation deck for a spotter during the operation. All fees incurred to the hotel will be payed by Faun. Have fun. Possible Contacts: Several contacts are being made available to you for the remainder of this mission. You can seek any of them out for possible assistance, but all will require payment. There is a suitcase of money in the lower drawer of the dresser in the second downstairs bedroom. Also in the suitcase are the plane tickets for your return. flight leaves at 5:00AM on June 18 *Specialized gear supplier* Name: Jack Gregory and contact information Function: Will sell you state-of-the-art non-munitions equipment that you might need for this mission. His prices will be high, but fair. *Weapons Dealer* Name: Lao Che and contact information Function: Will sell you munitions (guns, explosives, etc.) at reasonable rates. Lau is very Dangerous, so be respectful if you decide to use him. He refuses to conduct business through an interpreter and only speaks Mandarin Chinese. *Delta Insider* Name: “Smith” and contact information Function: Delta member who will sell information under the table. He seems to be a little unused to dealing in information, so prices will be highly negotiable. Subject might be able to be intimidated or fooled. The amount of useful information in his possession is unknown. *Pilot* Name: Chris Haines and contact information Function: will rent helicopters and/or sell services as a pilot. Prices are no-doubt high, but he is competent. Pierre's Journal. Entry one: I arrived in Singapore today. I will be staying in The Sail at Marina Bay hotel until I have completed my business here. Tomorrow I will begin scouting for the local tribe of glass-walker werewolves. Tonight I will enjoy the Chteau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac, 1996 from the room-service menu. Entry two: The wolves like to make their nests on the tops of buildings. It makes them difficult to reach, but easy to find. Using my binoculars, I peered inside the top levels of each of Singapore's tallest buildings from highest to lowest, always at night. They open the screens at Night. It took a mere 6 buildings before I found their base of operations. They are located in the top three floors of One Raffles Quay. These floors are officially occupied by Barclays Capital, a British investment firm. I will have to visit their headquarters next. Entry three: I have been able to obtain a wealth of information by following and eavesdropping on the wolves around the city. The political situation of the nest is very shaky. I might be able to exploit that weakness. Julia Breaker is the name of their leader, and many dissenting opinions have been raised against her decisions in private. Apparently the pack is competing with CapitaLand for a particular plot of land, and tensions are very high. The wolves have received death threats from an anonymous source that they assume is Aisyah binti Musa, the CEO of CapitaLand. They are very cautious about their relations with CapitaLand, but I'm not entirely sure why. I need more information. Entry four: I approached Cleon Winston in his home last night. I overhead him once talking to a friend in private after a few drinks about how he would be able to lead much better than Julia if he was able to best her in a duel. he seemed to be the most likely candidate to hire me. Of course I came prepared for a fight, but it was not necessary. These wolves always seem ill-at-ease when talking to me, some much more so than others, but the deal was simple: Aishyah's life for better human and “kinfolk” relations and of course the usual immunity for my brother, Adrian. Sometimes I wonder just how effective these tactics are for protecting him, but what choice do I have when I don't know where he is? Cleon accepted hesitantly, and now all I need to do is get rid of Julia. Oh, and one more thing: he seemed to be expecting me. Entry five: Aisyah's CapitaLand goons have just recently killed several of the werewolves' “kinfolk.” Apparently Aisyah is also a “kinfolk” to these beasts, but was married off in a political move long ago. She has money, power, and a grudge, so it's no wonder the wolves were so cautious about CapitaLand. There is a massive outrage within the nest about the killings, which are the first direct sign of aggression in their cold war. Julia has taken this opportunity to reassert her strength and has proposed an assassination of Aisyah. Entry six: I overheard battle plans from what I could only assume to be their tactician tonight. The plan is easy, four wolves and Julia from the roof, 3:05AM on July 18th. This is an excellent opportunity for me; not only is Julia out in the open for a straight fight, but I might not even have to lift a finger if I play my cards right. It is not every day that I get a chance like this, so I will be putting off my next job until further notice. Tomorrow I will tell Aishyah about the attack through an anonymous tip. If she is truly kin to the beasts, she will know to bolster her defenses. Entry seven: The same dream again last night. It's the same dream I've been having every night since I arrived here. I'm in a house, my house, preparing dinner for a guest, and when the guest does arrive it is a giant black bird. It speaks to me in my native tongue in a low, soothing voice. It asks me everything about myself and my plans, and I tell it because it is my guest. It's almost as though I can not stop myself. This is not like any trick of the wolves I've encountered or heard of before. Perhaps it is just my own mind playing tricks on me; it has been a stressful couple of weeks. Entry eight: Aishyah has hired the mercenary band Delta to protect her. If she doesn't attempt a preemptive counter-strike against the nest, she must either hope their relationship can be salvaged or fear a global event. The fact that she is standing her ground instead of running implies that she is either performing a show of strength or hoping to talk to the beasts. I will, of course, show up myself in case she is not able to kill Juila on her own. Entry nine: Zero hour is 3:00Am tonight. I will be scaling the building and entering the suite through an open window. There have been a frightening number of mercenaries dropped off inside the building today. Aishyah might just survive this attack after all. I hope the wolves haven't noticed the increased security. If they have, I may have a full-scale war on my hands. I am getting less and less comfortable with the situation as time wears on, but I cannot back down now. Failure to fulfill my end of the deal might lead to ill will against innocent humans or my brother. I cannot risk that. Game 11: I saw a black branch with blood that kept dripping: The players are separated into two groups. One group must use an quill with a bit of Faun's spirit bound into it (causes madness), and the other group starts with them but gets seperated, eventually finding their way to the other group and freeing them from their madness. The target of the operation is “Patriarch” Game 9: I saw a room full of men with their hammers a bleedin': Fon sends the gamers into the north boreal forest of Canada to deal with a science facility and rescue her son. They are delivered to the lab as possible test subjects and wake up being experimented on. Lockdown goes into effect. They must escape the lab before the coming storm destroys them. The Invitation: “Hello again gamer There is a matter of some importance I would like your help with. This is a hunt. It will be dangerous, but you will be greatly rewarded if you succeed. Please signal my messenger if you accept. My hand will bring you to me for further briefing.” Initial briefing hot points: Nature of the mission: Get Fon's son. Invoke the name Sunkmanitutankapi (lakotan for wolf): “Sunkmanitutankapi has sent for her son” Plan: be dropped in and escape Time limit: About three hours until the place is destroyed. The players are knocked out by the virus and brought to the science facility in a specialized crate. All players are lightly strapped down to gurnies, and cuffed as well. Their belongings are stored next to them in a crate that says “Designation: F.O.N. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS FORBIDDEN” Also included are all of the colony's supplies for the next month. The players are all de-cuffed, and right at that perfect moment, the players begin to wake up. As soon as the situation gets out of control, some doctor (number equal to number of players) will hit the lockdown button. Players will need to steal the doctors' gas masks to survive probably. Dr. Steinberg will be taunting and observing the players throughout this game. Psychoanalytics: Psychoanalytics is a large room with an arena section. It is designed to allow human subjects to view werewolves from a safe distance. There is also a separate room with a psychiatric couch. There are notes inside detailing delerium effects, and a notepad postulating that the scientists all belong to a minority group. One doctor has a note in his pocket that says, “No clue today. I'm sick of that policy. The psychoanalytics code is: 1391.” Supplies Storage: A crate that says “Designation: F.O.N. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS FORBIDDEN” is in this room. It contains everyone's gear that they had on when they were starting the game. There is also a month's worth of supplies in other crates. Anatomical Studies: In this department there are organs and flesh floating in formaldihyde. There are three skeletons, one in homid, chrinos, and lupine. In a sealed-off room unaffected by the lockdown, there is a werewolf recovering from scalpel incisions made with various silver alloys. If the players approach this wolf, Dr. Steinburg will trick the wolf into thinking it is part of a live-fire test, and cause the players to fight it. Anatomical studies' code is, “53 65 76 65 6e 74 65 65 6e 20 74 69 6d 65 73 20 6e 69 6e 65 20 74 68 65 6e 20 70 75 74 20 73 69 78” this is hex that translates to “Seventeen times nine then put six” or “1536” Subject Storage: There is a hallway that wraps all the way around the department. In the back is the crematorium. Then one half is designated with a picture of a wolf and the word “DANGER” in several languages. The other half has a picture of a human. The human cages are designated numbers matching the players' subject numbers (all prefixed with H). In the wolf cages, are a number of people/wolves coorilating to how well the players did in the first fight. If the players did well, there will be more wolves. If they invoke the name sunkmanitutankapi, t'ankapi oihankesni hena (endless prairies) will mediate instead of fighting. T'ankapi's father's name was: Frequent-dreamer. Code: “ A=1 U=2 C=3 G=4 Ochre (Stop) plus Guanine” Answer: 2114 Subject storage clue (in chinese) “length of the great wall of china” Answer: 8851 Medical applications: There is a medical center and a make-shift metallurgy lab. The metallurgy lab has devised a bomb that is capable of bypassing one door. Many lab rats are in the corner, as well as blood samples and such. If the players haven't fought a werewolf yet, there is one in this room. Code: “ A=1 U=2 C=3 G=4 Ochre (Stop) plus Guanine” Journal entries: It's been four months since I've seen the sky. Four months since I've seen any plants or dirt or anything but these familiar steel walls. It's difficult to comprehend the sheer power that isolation has upon one's sanity until it is actually experienced. Not isolated from other people, of course. The other scientists are all experiencing the same thing I am, and they provide much-needed fellowship. It's the isolation from the outside that causes this madness. Not being near nature, no contact with our loved-ones or family, no phone, and no internet. We cannot even receive letters. I can't imagine going another two months under this stress. When the time comes, will we be paid? Will we even be let out? We don't have the freedom to leave on our own, after all. Perhaps once we complete our research we'll just be slaughtered. We're a used resource, and we might know too much. If our employer is fine with us being this cruel to test subjects, what guarantee do we have that he won't be just as cruel to us? Several of the largest breakthroughs have been completely accomplished without paper record. Medical Applications in particular has some wonderful strings they can pull. We are no longer expendable. If we are killed, all we have worked for will die with us. Perfect. Medical journal: It is always a pleasure to study a new life form and see what medical application it might have. Until today I thought I would never see anything more interesting than the slime molds of the West Nile, but now I am witnessing a new era of medical technology. These samples we've been given are fascinating! I believe that they might contain a sort of universal stem cell capable of reproduction at incredibly fast paces with little chance of mutation! The ramifications to this discovery are nigh immeasurable. Entry two: The other scientists have decided that keeping paper records of our work is too risky. We have all agreed to sacrifice the speed of our research for our own personal safty. I'm not sure much we'll have to sacrifice our pace with Dr. Freeman here in medical. The man is like a computer, and he will serve as our memory. Entry three: Fantastic! Dr. Freeman has amazed us all. He has memorized entire genomes and formulas, test results and analysis records. We have accomplished what we once thought was impossible, and cured the cancer of 100% of infected lab rats, regardless of the progress of the cancer. We all feel that soon we will be able to re-grow nerve cells and safely alter human DNA on the fly. This could spell the end of all disease for humanity. At first I was curious about the methods of our departments, but now it has all been worth it. Game 11: Fon invites the gamers to go to the island of Komodo and obtain a giant spider egg sack specimen. First all gamers are taken to Dr. Sutherland for a briefing on the island of Komodo. Melbam in Australia. Letter: “Hello againgamer, I have a hunt I would like your help with. On the island of Komodo is an “undiscovered” species that I am slightly curious about. I want you to visit this island and obtain an egg of the creature. Once you have it, feed it to the komodo waiting outside of the cave. I have provided a map and plane tickets that will lead you the cave where I believe the creature resides. First, though, you should travel to Melbam, Australia and get more information from my contact there about the island of Komodo. His name is Dr. Sutherland, and he is a venom expert. The hunt will be high-risk and high-reward. Please let my contact know if you are interested. -Fawn” Komodo info: 1500 dragons more poisonous snakes per square meter than anywhere 15 species of snakes, half of which are venomous, The deadly ones are russel's viper, bamboo viper, and indian cobra. Deaf adders are poisonous and deaf. In water, dangerous species include stone fish, scorpion fish, stonefish, sea snakes. Komodo dragon stats: Str: 5 Dex: 4 Sta: 4 Health: OK x2, -1 x2, -2 x2, -5 x2, Dead. Skills: Alertness: 4, Athletics: 4, Brawl: 4, Dodge: 2, Hunting: 4, Stealth: 3 Bite: strength +2 damage. Automatic infection that deals one cumulative health level of damage every six hours until death or until cured by advanced medical care. The gamers will travel with a map until they find a cave. This cave head downward and contains many dead animals. It is very dark. The players will need lights to see. They may get caught in webs, which require an extended strength or dex roll to break free of. Each attempt takes a turn and there are 10 successes required to break free. Mother Spider stats: Str: 4 Dex: 5 Sta: 3 Health: OK x2, -1 x2, -2 x2, -5 x2, Dead. Skills: Alertness: 4, Athletics: 4, Brawl: 4, Dodge: 2, Hunting: 4, Stealth: 3 Venom: Anyone injected with the Spider venom must roll Sta.+ Endurance (Diff: 7). Subtract any successes from 6. The resulting number determines how much unsoakable, Lethal Damage the target will suffer, accumulating at a rate of 1 level per minute. Multiple injections are cumulative. Eggsack is easy enough to find, then the players just have to take it outside. DR. Melbroune: I'm bored of talking about it. Nasty venomous snakes and spiders and fish and things. Then when people get bitten they come to me and ask me what to do about it. Don't get bitten I say. Now hydroponics. I'll talk to you all you like about that. Growing plants artificially in water, it's very interesting. We'll need to know all about that if we're gunna go to mars. Where did you say you were going? Komodo. Well don't get bitten, that's all I can say. And if you do get bitten, don't come crying to me about it either because you won't get here in time. Plus I've got enough on my hands already, venomous creatures all around the office. This tank has fire ants in it, venomous little creatures, what are we going to do about them? Anyway, I've made some fairy cakes. Can't remember where I put those. There's some tea, but it's not very good. Anyway sit down for heaven's sake. So you're going to Komodo are you? Don't know why you wanna do that, but I suppose you have your reasons. There are fifteen different species of snake on Komodo and half of them are venomous. Of those fifteen there are three potentially deadly ones. Of those three, the indian cobra is the fifteenth deadliest snake on the planet. The other 14 of them are here in australia. That's why it's hard for me to find time to get on my Hydroponics. And spiders. 500 people a year used to get bitten by spiders, a lot of them would die so we had to develop an antidote so they'd stop bothering me. Took years. Then we made these snake bite detector kits. Game 12: I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it Fawn sends the players to go capture Delir, a spirit that is possessing a child. Intro questions: Zak: What is a monster, what seperates you from monsters? Devin: What is desire? A perception of need. Cody: What does it mean to be human? Pulse: What does it mean to take a life? Is it mercy? Fawn begins the game by inviting others to a briefing in Lake City, Colorado. There she covers the following: * Where they are to go (19523 Victoria Drive is like. . .next door) * Why they are going there (Kill a demon and capture the spirit) * What they have to do exactly (eye contact, stab with the gem is fragile) * Bring it back here. Ask if anyone has questions. soul gems are modified feathers produced by her own body. Feel free to use anything that makes sense for your harbinger or to scrap them altogether What the hell is going on: ''' Martin Wheeler: A 6-year old boy who is possessed by the demon Delir. He was hit by his dad and sent to his room for breaking the TV. He's on the school baseball team, and loves legos, although he keeps them strewn across his room. Clothes are scattered everywhere on the floor, but there is a laundry basket with a few pieces in it. He has just lost his first eyetooth, and is very proud of it. Owns cute tiny shoes with laces. If he feels very positive emotions while he is in human form, he is likely to stay in human form. If he is scared, angry, sad, he is likely to change into demon form. Loves: Barry (his well-loved teddy bear), Playing with his brother, hugging his mom when he's sad. Hates: Naps, being made fun of, being scared Above all, it is important that this character rings home as a true child. His innocence needs to be in direct juxtaposition with the Demon's experience. Brian Wheeler: Martin's 8-year-old brother. Martin has always looked up to him, but now that he's got his own room, Brian doesn't want to play with him as much. Linda Wheeler: Martin's mom. She's emotional, but intelligent. She cares about her children and family and loves them very much. Theodore Wheeler: Goes by Ted. He also loves his family a lot, but after a hard day at work, patience can run a little thin. '''The situation: Right before the gamers come. It is after dinner, the family is in the living room watching TV. Martin gets angry at something trivial and throws a lamp into the TV. Ted, frustrated with problems at work, strikes Martin and sends him to is room. The gamers will arrive at the house. Brian is downstairs in the living room, playing with legos. Linda is in the living room cleaning up the mess from the TV. Ted is upstairs crying. Martin has turned into his demon form and will shortly send monsters to capture Brian and kill Ted. Linda will probably bring the gamers inside and offer them food, if they can convince her to let them in. It might be difficult given the late hour and circumstance. The monsters attacking Ted will almost certainly kill him, since he is upstairs away from the gamers. It is 2v1 up there. One monster will attempt to drag Brian upstairs into Martin's realm. An equal number of monsters as there are gamers will attack the gamers as intruders. After the fight, Linda will almost certainly want to find Martin. Martin's portal is under his bed, hidden. At this point, the gamers might get more information about the family's situation from Linda or Brian. Through the portal is a demonic dreaming-ish sort of version of the house. The windows and doors to the outside are gone. The basement is full of monsters. The kitchen has scary and arcane kitchen appliances. The living room is grove of pleasure and comfort corrupted by guilt. The parent's room is relatively unchanged from how it normally is in the real world. Martin is inside the parents' room, crying and clutching his teddy bear. Brian needs to let the people know that he's sad and scared. If someone scares him or he becomes too sad, he will transform into his demon form. Delir, in this form, looks just like him except his hair is black and spikey, he has red glowing eyes and fangs, his skin is gray, and his clothes turn into black armor. He offers them a compromise: spare his life, and he'll join them in a battle (or something else fitting, and tempting). He might try to steal all of the team's soul gems and break them. If given one by one, he'll enchant each one and give them back to function as a beacon so he can join them later. He will attempt to dangle an ultimatum and power over the players heads until they kill each other. It might be hard, but attempt to be as manipulative as possible. If forced, he will deliver on his promise. If Delir is “killed” someone must make eye contact and hold their soul gem. If he is incapacitated, he automatically reverts to Martin for at least four minutes. If Delir is killed, the gamers will have the alternate world melt around them. Delir is a difficult (I think) foe I invented for my cell to battle. We were lacking character deaths (and still are, as he wasn't able to kill anyone), so I invented a powerful, optional, creature for my cell to battle. They were given warnings and at least two possible non-combat solutions that they chose not to take. He's done in the style of a video game boss, which isn't typical, but was very fun. :D Quick character back-story: About 780 years ago an entity known as Delir (dehl-eer) was “slain” by what is now my harbinger, Fawn. His final fate at the time was either unknown or left undisclosed. Delir has somehow managed to make it back from wherever he was with some great effort. In the process he had to sacrifice half of his being to a likely blank-slate host. The game is set in the beginning stages of Delir's possession of said host. The host and Delir share a body but continue to have mostly distinct personalities and appearances for the time being. Negative emotions (fear, hatred, sadness) will manifest Delir's aspect, while positive emotions will manifest that of the host (who is a 8 year old male child). Delir's morality is called into question during the course of the game. Is he a bloodthirsty killer, sacrificing anyone to get what he wants, or just someone who simply wants to live, even if that means sacrificing a bit of everything he holds dear? Perhaps bits of both. It's up to the players to decide. The end objective of this “hunt” was to slay either the aspect of Delir or the host, and capture the spirit within a specially crafted item provided to the players at the start. The players could have chosen to kill the kid, but they opted for the more difficult route instead. The aspect of Delir appears similar to be his host only with grey skin, red glowing eyes, fangs, spikey white hair, and of course his suit of torment and a red cape. Delir's Character Sheet: Stats: Strength: 3 Dex: 4 Stamina: 3 Charisma: 5 Manipulation: 6 Appearance: 3 Perception: 5 Intelligence: 5 Wits: 4 Talents: Alertness: 3 Athletics: 2 Brawl: 1 Dodge: 3 Endurance: 4 Intimidation: 5 Intuition: 4 Legerdemain: 5 Persuasion: 4 Subterfuge: 7 Skills: Crafts: 2 Meditation: 8 Melee: 4 Performance: 2 Stealth: 3 Knowledge: Academics (ancient only): 4 Culture (ancient only): 3 Investigation: 3 Linguistics: 2 Occult: 6 (as well as many secondary) Willpower: 9 Health Levels: 25 (4 of which are incapacitated). Powers and Other Abilities: Demonic Celerity: Can passively levitate with no effort up to 80MpH. Allows Delir to take one extra action every round and make a dedicated evasion as a free action each round. Gets +3 dice on all wits rolls. Demonic Endurance: Can soak lethal and aggravated damage with stamina. In addition, all soak roles have an additional automatic success. Also grants a passive tough-as-nails merit equivelent to 6 points. Suit of Torment: Delir's aspect possesses (and constantly wears) a suit of very special armor known as the suit of torment. It is a large, black plate mail with glowing purple runes on it sans helm. It looks a little goofy on his child-like body, but fits him perfectly. I won't talk about its backstory here, but it does grant him several passive abilities. Allows him to take one further action each round, grants 8 dice of armor plus two auto successes on any body-shots made against him. Magma Bullets: Bullets liquify as they near Delir. Passively gains an additional 3 automatic soak successes against all bullets. Any time 100% of a bullet's damage is negated, Delir must soak 2 aggravated damage with only his stamina. Repositioning Shadows: Every time Delir takes at least one health level of damage, he is automatically teleported to a random location within 15 feet of himself. He can't end up in any walls or other places that would instantly kill him. Players will probably need to make perception rolls to notice his new location in combat situations. Blood weapon: As an action, Delir can sacrifice any number of health levels and create a weapon made of what appears to be roiling blood. This weapon's blood level starts equal to the number of health levels sacrificed. It does current blood-level dice of unsoakable aggravated damage. Each time it deals damage, its blood level is increased by that amount. Can only deal damage once per round. Mirror Images: As a free action, once ever three rounds, Delir can roll Appearance + subterfuge to attempt to create mirror images. He creates successes mirror images. He and all mirror images instantly teleport to random nearby locations upon creation. The images do not take actions, and are basically just mirror images of whatever Delir is doing. Each has Delir's soak dice, and one health level. If Delir takes a health level of damage while the mirror images are up, all existing images shatter. Flame of the Tempest: Delir can engulf an opponent in purple flames that spring from the victim's very skin. Does manipulation + Occult (diff. 6) health levels of damage, soakable with willpower difficulty 8. Meditation of the Reaper: Delir meditates for up to (manipulation + meditation diff. 6) rounds. During his meditation, he is unable to take actions, and he gains an additional +3 automatic soak successes against all physical attacks. (this brings his body-shot soak total for bullets up to 9 auto-successes + 8 armor dice + 3 stamina dice, for those of you keeping track). All damage to delir's physical form in this time is negated (but kept track of). If Delir takes his double remaining health levels in damage, he is pre-maturely pulled from his meditation. When his meditation ends (by any cause), all foes within 30 yards take one health level of aggravated damage for each round he was meditating, and he is healed one health level of any damage type for each point of damage dealt this way. This ability can only be used once every 10 rounds. Conjure Phantasm: Once per combat situation, Delir can summon a number of creatures that normally exist only within his host's imagination. This number is equal to the number of players +1, and requires no roll. The creatures are 9 feet tall bipedal, and covered with long, shaggy white hair. They have large, straight claws, big mouths, and big black eyes that peek out of their fur. They're slow-witted but strong and also a little cute. A phantasm: Str. 7 Dex. 4 Sta. 3 All the rest: 1 Brawl: 3 Dodge: 3 Claw swipe does strength + 2 dice of damage. Game 13: I Heard the Roar of a Wave That Could Drown the Whole World. Basic premise: The players gather an army of ghostly pirates from a sunken port in the gulf. They gain the help of Pierre and Adrian and are transported to the umbra to fight some Qyrl stuff. Battlefield tactics galore! Introduction Letter: ''' “name, I've got a job for you of the 'great risk, great reward' variety. You understand? Meet me in Port Royal, Jamaica. Follow the map. September 25th 3:30 PM DON'T BE LATE.” Players arrive at said spot to find a wolf who talks and shape-shifts casually into a more humanoid form. Things he needs to mention: You're going to be fighting a god Give Bugs, how they work. Number = players + 3 Let's talk about enemies: Do not mention my name. Do not mention anything about me. You'll need help, who did their research? Go build me an army, then come back here. So they go out and create a pirate army thing. They are transported into the shadowlands of port royale. It is frozen in time at the moment right before the massive tidal wave where everyone died. To summon the pirates of the bay, they need to ring the bell tower. There are five pirate commodores, each with three captains and 35 crew members under each captain. Each commodore wants a different thing. '''Pirate Commodores: Commodore Morgan: Wants freedom and sailing. Classic looking pirate with large red coat with yellow trim. Blue cape, red three-pointed hat. Two pistols. Commodore charles Vane: Wants treasure. Black gaotee and white powdered wig. Dirty coat and four pistols with streight-edged sword. Commodore Calico Jack: Mutineer of Vane. Wants to be alive once again. Three-pointed hat with long feathers and plumage. Plainly dressed. Dread Commodore Roberts: Wants infamy. Plainly dressed man with a black bandana. Commodore LeChuck: Wants only to spill the blood of the innocent. Massive man with a long, messy black beard. Giant red coat with six pistols strapped to the lapels, as well as two more down below on his belt. Cutlass at his waist. After the players get any pirates they can, they go back to the meeting point. There they meet up with the wolf again, who transports them to unsea's soul. They are shown a massive anenome looking thing and told that this is the anchor to the shadowlands. If it dies or is injured, you can wave bye-bye to the army. If the players aquired five leigons, they'll have enough to beat the mission if they're very clever, without the help of other NPCs. If they only aquired four groups, they'll need all the help they can get from the other NPCs. If they have 3 groups, they will have a lot of trouble convincing the Rokea to stay, and WILL need to be clever and utilize their allies well. If they have two groups or less, they will not be able to complete the mission without extreme creativity and caution. When they arrive, they find Pierre sitting around with Adrian. Adrian pledges his loyalty to the group and pierre follows begrudgingly. After some more time another man walks up. James Lauring is a Corax. He is tall, with long, streight, black hair. Lean build. He's wearing jeans and a shirt that says “I'm Umbral, bitches!” He apporaches the group and humors with them and inquires as to what they're doing in unsea's soul. If he feels like the group is safe and honest, he'll bring the rokea. The rokea consist of a slew of seven deadly Rokea. The leader is Guards-The-Shores. A 2,800 year old Darkwater with powerful gifts. He reveals that he has given up the fight, and will be leaving shortly. The defense of the enemy is two-pronged: Land and sea. In order to fully fight the sea, the land side must be destroyed, but he is not powerful enough to do so. The players must convince him to stay and help them fight. Three of the rokea depend on James to leave, so they will defend him with their lives. From this point the players must make a map and figure things out. Pierre and James are good scouts. Pirates make fairly lousy scouts. An open fight on the field will kill everyone. They need to use a natural funnel to attack the enemy. Stealth is not an option without massive sacrifice. Two groups are required to hold down the fort. Pierre and adrian count as ½ of a group. Guards-The-Shores counts as ½ of a group on land. 2 groups in water. Guards -The Shores's slew counts as 1 group on land. 2 in water. Four groups are required to take the tentacle. Three groups with PERFECT battle tactics can as well. Once to the ships, 7 groups are required to fight and slay the kraken beast. Once the game is over, the pirates whose promises were not fufilled will turn hostile or take hostages. Game 14: I Heard Ten Thousand Whisperin' and Nobody Listenin': Fon hands the players a few artifacts to get them going. Their goal is to obtain two of the three world-stones. They are falsely directed to an illuminati agent in the vatican who will attempt to fuck them in any way possible. After that, the race is on. The players must go to Gralam's final resting place, the Smithsonian, and a private poker tournament. Things the players receive: A note from Fon,: “''William Costa: Linguist, archeologist, Atlantean enthusiast'' number” The players who get fewer than 7 successes on a perception + intuition roll, difficulty 7 will read “Please allow these fellows entry to see me in my office in the Vatican. ''-Camerlengo Ventresca”'' A Greek copy of Hermocrates with several words underlined and “''Get these for me. 61.004366, -108.808594''”. See end of game notes for Greek and English copy of Hermocrates. Yet another business card: “''Chris Haines: Pilot.'' number” All players receive tickets to Rome and a meeting place and time. The place is a cafe and the time is 11:00AM on October 10. The encounter with Camerlengo Ventresca: Chances are the players will meet up with Camerlengo Peter Ventresca. He is an agent of the Illuminati who is spying on the Roman Catholic church. He will attempt to extract every ounce of information that he can from the players before backstabbing them. The players will encounter him in the chapel and begin walking with him to his office. First he will ask why the players are there. Then he will get every ounce of information about their mission he can out of them. Who sent them? What are they looking for? Next he will attempt to gather personal information including names from each of them. If he can, he might also gather the names of their loved ones or where they live. He will not talk much of the item they've brought for him until they get to the office. On the way, players will pass many armed guards and will be escorted by three as well. Ventresca will explain that the increase in security is due to two recent cardinal deaths and even more recent death threats against the church. Once inside the office, the cardinal will take photos of the documents and attack the weakest-looking player with a fire-poker. When the players attack back and the guards enter, he brands them with the Illuminati mark of death and calls “illuminatis! Illuminatis!” After which he disappears from the room. The guards will attack and attempt to kill the players. The stream of guards is never-ending, and if the players stay put for too long, snipers will position themselves on the roof. The best means of escape seems to be the large stained-glass window in the room, and it really is. The players will have evidence of their assassination attempt brought to court against them if they revealed their names or have fame. The government will seize their assets if they can, and the players will face a very difficult near future for their characters. The encounter with William Costa: The player with the business card will find that it has changed back to its original state. The very next thing the players should do is visit William Costa. He is an elderly man who lives alone in an estate within the city proper. He is 96 years old, and if the players go immediately there, they will find him alive. He is crothcety, but opens up once the players show him the lost Dialogue. He will gladly translate the text and give information on the whereabouts of the 3 stones. As the players are about to leave, he is shot in the shoulder by a sniper. His last words: “Do you think it's easy to die at age 96?” In true Bioware fashion, the game opens up for the players at that point: The private party: ''' The worldstone is being presented as part of the prize of a high-roller poker game in Vegas'' October 15''th starting at 10:00PM. Costa was thinking about going so he obtained some information about how to get there: “''Vesper Lynd is hosting a high-stakes poker match'' Security by Gurkha Ten Million dollar buy-in The entrant with the greatest winnings will also receive the priceless Diomedes and Polyxena, from the Etruscan amphora Interested parties contact number” The players contact the number and are told to bring the money either in cash or in liquidated bank account to a meeting place. The Gurkha representative is a man named Mr. White who tells the players there there is to be no funny business, no supernatural powers. He give his reputation and the livelihood of his firm's employees as collateral for the deal. The players make their way into the party area later. If they aren't dressed in tailored suits, they're instantly under extra-heavy watch. They have an equal chance of winning as anyone else. The system for poker is as follows: Each participant rolls 2 dice, multiplies the numbers, then adds their intelligence plus perception, rounded down. The players: Janus: An illuminati spy, accompanied by two others. Felix Leiter: A CIA operative there to make sure Vesper Lynd loses. Vesper Lynd: Suspected associate of Zane Thaxis, who blew up the panama canal recently. She really wants the money so she can not be killed by terrorists. Bill tanner: A crazy High-roller gambler. Western-themed. Miguel: ''A mexican druglord. ''Edmund Slate: The snooty frat guy. A couple of hours in, there will be a break. If the players are doing poorly, nothing much will happen. If they are doing really really poorly, Felix leiter will offer to take stake in them with 5 million. If they are doing well, any players drinking from the bar will have been poisoned. If they've knocked out the illuminati, they'll be attacked if they separate. '''The Smithsonian Warehouse: The sunstone is being kept safe in a Smithsonian warehouse separate from the main museum. This stone requires the most investigation to obtain. There is no way the players will be able to find the sunstone without getting a contact in the museum itself. Financial records, having contacts in the criminal underworld, throwing lots of money around, talking to disgruntled professors, or tracking museum pieces that are rotating out of display are all great ways. Follow that truck! The Smithsonian currently has an ancient Greek artifacts display, but the sunstone is not on display. The next display in that section of the museum is Ming Dynasty, China. It begins on October 17th. The other display will be taken down on October 15th. If the players arrive on the 17th and follow where the artifacts are taken, they will be led to the proper location. Disgruntled employee to the rescue! As the players wander around the museum, they will come across a particularly upset looking elderly black security guard getting dragged away by his boss. Following this man leads the players to the main administration offices where he and his boss talk about smoke breaks. The calm, intelligent security guard asserts that he's been a security guard here for 35 years and has always been allowed smoke breaks. The younger boss tells him that the policy came from higher up and he's got no power over it. The players can tell that he's just using it as an excuse, though, and gains sympathy for the security guard. If the players talk to him just right and maybe give him enough money to retire on, he'll spill the beans about the location. So I know a guy. . . Any players with contacts in the criminal underworld or people who case joints can put their man on the job. Having him gather information will take a day. Finally! A use for all that IRS paperwork! Crafty players will find a money trail from the Smithsonian to a maintenance company for recent floor reworking. The Smithsonian hasn't recently had any floor work of that magnitude done, so it's very suspicious. Calling the construction company (Allcom and sons), and talking to the head manager Joe can get the players the location if they're careful. Joe has been told to be quiet about the location his work has been on to anyone except the museum. He's pretty clearly slow, though. The location The location is in Richmond Virginia. The warehouse is surrounded by barbed wire and a perimeter of razor wire fence. There are a lot of cameras on the premises, so the players had better be careful to disguise themselves before they break in. Inside they will find two workers loading the sunstone into a crate. The two workers loading the stone are illuminati agents, and there is one (or two) more sitting next to them being invisible. Gralam's Lair: The moonstone lies in Gralam's lair. Players visited this location in Game 2, and that is the only way to remember the location or find this stone. This stone requires the most brawn to obtain. Guardians of stone The players will remember the stone enemies from the last time they were in this area. As the players descend into the depths of Gralam's lair for what should be the last time, they find that not much as changed at all from the last time they were here. Gralam's corpse is still in position with the blade sticking out of the skull. There is no flesh left on the bones, though, and they've fallen apart mostly. Incorporated into the back of his throne is the moonstone. When players remove it, the luna rocks lighting the area will begin to dim. The players will have 21 seconds until the room is pitch black. At 15 seconds, the players will get a +1 difficulty to hit, +2 at 18, and totally blind at 21. Enemies also spawn from the spiral staircase and drop onto the bridge. For a Zak Devin Ellis mix, probably 3 big guys, 3 little guys, and three angels would be enough. Oh, did I mention the angels? A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES. The foes cannot leave the area, so running is a great strategy. . . If the players can get past the guards. Devin will likely have no trouble here. Hoff will be happy about that if they decide to fight it out this way. Fon's Meeting Place: The players arrive at the coordinates specified to find nothing but 5 illuminati agents waiting for them. Fon will shape shift from whatever form she was waiting around in and render destroy the agents. She will accept two of the three stones as a success, but will reprimand the players not being careful if the illuminati got involved. Excerpts from Hermocrates by Plato. In greek: Hermocrates: In shame I hereby do recant the time and place whereof Critias spoke. In rendering Egyptian into Greek, he made a tenfold error. Instead of lying three thousand miles hence, Atlantis may well have been thirty-thousand miles away. Or perhaps it was less than three hundred miles from our own shores. Likewise, it may be that the lost kingdom held sway as many as one hundred thousand years ago or as few as one thousand. Socrates: If a kingdom arose on Earth beyond anywhere men might travel, then we would never hear of it. We ought to accept the lesser figure. As for time, we can not be sure, but is not one hundred thousand years too long for any one entity to resist the grappling hands of change? Hermocrates: Perhaps you are correct, though I may disagree on the point of longevity. The great city of Atlantis, being the dwelling of earthy deities, did thrive for many years. In its greatest era it was a utopia on earth, capable of making the gods of Olympus jealous. Socrates: Of course you do refer to the great fall of which Critias spoke. Hermocrates: Certainly, although Critias spoke not of the great expansions of the city. So glorious Atlantis founded two colonies, the less one hundred and seventy miles northwest of the city and the greater six hundred and fourty miles away southeast. Gates of the kingdom opened only with the aid of special stones. At many outposts, a Sunstone sufficed, if sunset made the tall horns red. At the greater colony a Moonstone was also needed, with the sun dying as a new moon is born. To approach Atlantis itself, a Worldstone was required as well, with a waxing moon the sky's only reply to the fires below. Final entrance yielded only to contrary minds. Socrates: And what, then, prevented any from simply crafting their own Worldstone to gain entrance? Hermocrates: The special stones were of unsmelted stone from the great city of Atlantis itself, containing bits of Orichalcum, the metal the glitters like fire. This metal was also cast into shiny beads and used as we do minted coins. These were payment to the city itself to do their work as if by magic. When their colonies were failing, wise men carved strange devices out of amber to search for the metal, but only proud Atlantis ever yielded a supply. Socrates: You have called the kingdom wealthy, but surely this is absurd. Hermocrates: It is said that Zeus shared your sentiment, my fiend. As we have heard, he stripped the beings of the city of their immortality, and made them like men once again. As the waters rose around their city, the kings of Atlantis, one after another, sought to hold off fate. Knowing mortal men would never rule the sea, they planned a mighty crystal, made from a special Orichalcum, that would make them mightier than the gods themselves. The dwellers of the city saw the existence of time and space as one fabric, holding each of them in place. They concluded that they would be able to transcend this realm of reality and to exist simultaneously as spirit and as flesh. The device they dubbed the Soul Prism. Nur-Ab-Sal was one such king. He it was, say the wise men of Egypt, who first attempted to use the device. According to such accounts, he simply disappeared afterward, never to be seen again. Others who merely touched the crystal of metal, in itself a contradiction, were driven mad or killed instantly. Socrates: This I doubt. We are hearing a child's tale. Excerpts from Hermocrates by Plato. In greek: κάτοικοι: Σε ντροπή Με την παρούσα κάνω αποκηρύξουν τον χρόνο και τον τόπο των ανωτέρω Κριτίας μίλησε. Στην απόδοση αιγυπτιακή στα ελληνικά, έκανε μια δεκαπλάσια σφάλμα. Αντί να βρίσκονται τρεις χιλιάδες μίλια, ως εκ τούτου, η Ατλαντίδα μπορεί κάλλιστα να ήταν τριάντα χιλιάδες μίλια μακριά. Ή μήπως ήταν λιγότερο από τριακόσια μίλια από τις δικές μας ακτές. Ομοίως, μπορεί να είναι ότι το χαμένο βασίλειο που κατέχει ταλάντευση όσο εκατό χιλιάδες χρόνια πριν ή τόσο λίγα όσο χίλιες. Σωκράτης: Εάν ένα βασίλειο προέκυψε στη Γη πέρα από οπουδήποτε άνδρες θα μπορούσαν να μεταβούν, τότε ποτέ δεν θα ακούσετε από αυτό. Οφείλουμε να δεχτεί το μικρότερο αριθμό. Όσο για του χρόνου, δεν μπορούμε να είμαστε σίγουροι, αλλά δεν είναι εκατό χιλιάδες χρόνια πάρα πολύ καιρό για κάθε οντότητα ενός να αντισταθεί στην grappling χέρια της αλλαγής; κάτοικοι: Ίσως έχετε δίκιο, αν και μπορεί να διαφωνούν σχετικά με το σημείο της μακροζωίας. Η μεγάλη πόλη της Ατλαντίδας, που είναι η κατοικία του γήινες θεότητες, έκανε ευδοκιμούν εδώ και πολλά χρόνια. Στο μεγαλύτερο εποχή του ήταν μια ουτοπία στη γη, σε θέση να πραγματοποιήσει τους θεούς του Ολύμπου ζηλιάρης. Σωκράτης: Φυσικά θα αφορούν και τη μεγάλη πτώση των οποίων Κριτίας μίλησε. κάτοικοι: Βεβαίως, αν και Κριτίας μίλησε όχι από τις μεγάλες επεκτάσεις της πόλης. Έτσι ένδοξη Atlantis ίδρυσε δύο αποικίες, το λιγότερο εκατόν εβδομήντα μίλια βορειοδυτικά της πόλης και της ευρύτερης εξακόσια σαράντα μίλια μακριά νοτιοανατολικά. Πύλες του βασιλείου ανοίξει μόνο με τη βοήθεια ειδικών πέτρες. Σε πολλά φυλάκια, ένα Κριτίας αρκούσε, αν το ηλιοβασίλεμα που ο ψηλός κέρατα κόκκινο. Κατά τη μεγαλύτερη αποικία μακριά ήταν επίσης αναγκαία, με τον ήλιο να πεθαίνει ως νέο φεγγάρι γεννιέται. Για την προσέγγιση Ατλαντίδα μόνος του, το αποικίες ήταν απαραίτητη, καθώς, με μια αποτρίχωση φεγγάρι μόνη απάντηση του ουρανού με τις πυρκαγιές στη συνέχεια. Τελική είσοδο απέδωσε μόνο στην αντίθετη μυαλά. Σωκράτης: Και τι, λοιπόν, να προβεί σε κανένα από τα απλά χειροτεχνίας δική αποικίες τους να κερδίσουν την είσοδο; κάτοικοι: Οι ειδικές πέτρες από ορείχαλκος πέτρα από τη μεγάλη πόλη της Ατλαντίδας η ίδια, που περιέχει μικρά κομμάτια ορείχαλκος , το μέταλλο του λάμπει σαν φωτιά. Το μέταλλο ήταν επίσης ρίχνει σε γυαλιστερό χάντρες και χρησιμοποιούνται όπως κάνουμε έκοψε νομίσματα. Αυτά ήταν πληρωμών στην ίδια την πόλη για να κάνουν τη δουλειά τους, ως δια μαγείας. Όταν αποικίες τους ήταν προβληματικό, σοφοί σκαλισμένα περίεργα συσκευές από κεχριμπάρι στην αναζήτηση για το μέταλλο, αλλά μόνο υπερήφανος Ατλαντίς απέδωσε ποτέ μια προσφορά. Σωκράτης: Έχετε ονομάζεται το βασίλειο πλούσιοι, αλλά σίγουρα αυτό είναι παράλογο. κάτοικοι: Λέγεται ότι ο Δίας κοινή γνώμη σας, δαίμονας μου. Όπως ακούσαμε, έγδυσε τα όντα της πόλης της αθανασίας τους, και τους έκανε όπως και οι άνδρες για άλλη μια φορά. Καθώς τα νερά γύρω από την πόλη τους, οι βασιλείς της Ατλαντίδας, το ένα μετά το άλλο, προσπάθησε να κρατήσει μακριά μοίρα. Γνωρίζοντας θνητούς ποτέ δεν θα κυβερνούσε τη θάλασσα, προγραμμάτισαν ένα ισχυρό κρύσταλλο, κατασκευάζονται από ειδικό Orichalcum, που θα τους καθιστούν ισχυρότερη από τους θεούς τους. Οι κάτοικοι της πόλης είδαν την ύπαρξη του χρόνου και του χώρου ως ένα ύφασμα, που κατέχουν το καθένα από αυτά στη θέση τους. Κατέληξαν στο συμπέρασμα ότι θα είναι σε θέση να ξεπεράσουμε αυτήν την σφαίρα της πραγματικότητας και να υπάρχει ταυτόχρονα ως πνεύμα και ως σάρκα. Η συσκευή την οποία ονόμασαν ψυχή. από-να-Σαλ ήταν ένας από αυτούς βασιλιάς. Αυτός ήταν, λένε οι σοφοί της Αιγύπτου, ο οποίος πρώτος προσπάθησε να χρησιμοποιήσετε τη συσκευή. Σύμφωνα με την εν λόγω λογαριασμούς, αυτός απλώς εξαφανίστηκε μετά, κανένας δεν τον είδε ξανά. Αυτοί που άγγιξε απλώς το κρύσταλλο του μετάλλου οδηγήθηκαν τρελός ή σκοτώθηκαν ακαριαία. Σωκράτης: Αυτό Αμφιβάλλω. Ακούμε ιστορία ενός παιδιού. Illuminati Skills: Distort Proximity Weapons swung at the defender will appear to pass through him or warp as though swung through water. (System: Treat path rating as an additional number of successes to any dodge check.) Invisibility With the expenditure of some willpower an illusionist can render himself invisible. In this state he is unable to affect the outside world, but it really does help him get around. (System: The illusionist expends a willpower and rolls appearance plus subterfuge. The invisibility lasts successes x 20 minutes) Silence Creation of Silence through counterspell. This simple counterspell will affect any spells drawing upon a power the caster doesn't fully control or comprehend. At rank 5 this affects all magic. (system: after using perception + intuition to see if a spell is being cast, the silencer rolls intelligence + Silence. Successes subtract from that of the caster.) Illusion of Speed The illusionist can borrow a little speed from his future self. Luckily for him, something gets added in translation. (system: Treat path rating as a pool. In a round, the Illuminati can either spend a point to take an extra action, or suffer a pool maximum-pool current dice penalty for that round.) Night Eye The Illuminati are enlightened. That means they can see in the dark. Perfect blackness still blinds them. Chameleon Active camouflage as inspired by nature (system: The Illusionist can spend a point of willpower and activate chameleon. While in this mode, the path's rating is automatically added as successes to any stealth roll. Actions may be taken while in this mode. Lasts manipulation + stealth rounds.) Calm/Demoralize/Frenzy Humanoid A master agent of the illuminati can manipulate the emotions of those around him, causing opponents to halt their attacks, run in fear, or froth with anger. (System: Illuminati master spends a willpower and rolls manipulation + Subterfuge difficulty 5, opponents roll willpower difficulty 7. The greater the difference in the rolls, the greater the power of the effect.) Conjure Nightmare “They are the masters of your mind.” The illuminati masters can twist the darkest parts of an opponent's mind against them. (System: Master spends a willpower and rolls manipulation + occult, difficulty 6. Effect lasts for successes turns. Player may roll willpower difficulty 6 + turns remaining to get out each turn.) Imagined burden The illuminati master agents are experts at manipulating the smallest thoughts of an opponent. With an expenditure of will, they can make their enemies believe that the gravity of the world is tenfold. (System: Expend willpower and roll Manipulation + Subterfuge. All foes in the area roll willpower difficulty 8. Effect lasts difference in successes turns at difference with successes meters radius. Foes under the effect have a – difference in successes penalty to movement or physical dice rolls.) Statue Stats: The big ones: Statues do not soak damage from heavy weapons (hammers, clubs, explosives) 10 health levels 8 soak dice 4 dex, 2dodge 7 strength 5 melee Each weilds a heavy bo staff made of stone that does Strength + 3 bashing, and a clawed foot that can do 10 leathal (5 dice, +5 auto successes) as long as the opponent is laying on the ground. Quadrupedal lizardy guys: 6 health levels 5 soak dice 4 dex, 4 dodge 4 strength 4 brawl Grapple Dexterity + Brawl (or Soft Martial Arts), Difficulty: 6 Description: The attacker needs successes greater than the target's Strength. A target who has been successfully grappled can attempt to break loose; this will usually be Dexterity + Brawl or Strength + Brawl, depending on the action. The target needs successes equal to those achieved by the attacker. The attacker has the option to spend his action preventing the target from breaking loose, in which case the target must gain successes equal to the total of those originally achieved by the attacker, plus those the attacker achieves this round. The Angels Appearing as statues of beautiful women without faces, these foes wield powerful recurve bows made of stone for ranged attacking. 6 health levels 4 soak dice Strength: 4 5 dex, 4 dodge 4 archery Arrows deal strength + aim successes dice plus 3 auto successes in damage. Game 15: Where Hunger is Ugly, Where the Souls are Forgotten Synopsis: A noob game where the participants are transported to a partial dimension in the Mediterranean sea not unlike fantasy-inspired medieval Europe. There they charged with destroying a fractal ward guarding the beast of Greed. By teaming up with a group of rebels they are able to charge the cathedral/castle and take out The King Pope. The Introduction Letter: “Dear player I need you to head to the Malta International Airport on the island of Gozo. There you will meet a private pilot who will fly you to the island and city of Comino. '' ''Once there you will meet with me for further instruction. '' ''-mark” The players will also find tickets enclosed and a meeting time and place. The meeting place is an abandoned building in a little city on the island of Comino. She should explain to the little nooblets that she wants them ransack the high ward room of castle cathagaid, and that they won't be able to return home until they have completed their task. She gives them all tattoos and tells them to take a walk down a particular path. She warns them to take supplies and tells them that the journey is an odyssey. Be sure to mention that the first step should be getting to Cathagaid. The Odyssey: It's a long walk to Cathagaid. Here's some common distances: From Malterra to the forest: 10 miles From edge of forest to the crossroads: 39 miles From crossroads to cathagaid edge: 35 miles From edge to farmlands: 30 miles From edge to Cathagaid proper: 140 miles Total: 224 miles. That's almost like walking from San Francisco to LA. It's about a week and a half of walking 10 hours a day. Meeting With Nels Llandis: Nels landis will serve as the first human contact for the group. He's a bandit, though, so it's a bit of a rude introduction. He's standing in the road a bit after the crossroads, and introduces himself kindly enough. He casually leads the conversation to bandits and then mentions that he's a bandit and he's robbing them. If the players make any move toward him, he'll claim to have a score of men in the trees ready to kill the players with bows. He really only has a few, but it's still quite dangerous. A wounded person is difficult to travel with. Nels also carries a map of the continent, which is great for our gamers whether or not they killed him. He's very polite, and will only take the luxury goods of the people he steals from. He then sends them on their way, and if they gave him their stuff tell them to look him up in Balsona should they come to visit. Hopefully the players don't actually decide to go there because that would cause the game to last. . . forever. The fields and Cathagaid Proper: After the group walks out of the forest, they'll be met with lots of rolling agricultural fields and tiny villages. They might even witness Templars collecting on the king pope's food tax. The characters' place in the world is a strange one. They are probably clearly not from around here either by accent, clothes, or anything else of the sort. If it becomes widely known that they are outsiders or crazy or something. Capture or rebels: They might either be captured by the templars, held for questioning where it will be determined whether they're good or not, and then executed as a PR stunt. If they are about to be executed as PR stunt, Jowan will come rescue them (maybe). Once with the rebel alliance, Jowan convinces the rest of the rebels that the players' presence is a sign that they should attack the castle. In a star-wars style briefing, they are told about a secret back-door entrance to the castle through the sewers. The players are charged with dropping the draw-bridge and destroying the mechanism. They were probably told where the room was, so they must climb to the top of a big tower thing, which gets a catapult shot right through the windows. Once they destroy the floor of the room, they win the game and are transported back to the real world. Game 16: The Hunt “Find tseroka ''and rivotra. Begin your search in Befandefa, Madagascar. Your greatest defense lies in your blood. Bring them alive to me at -0.5782372320025745, 35.66436767578125. print” The gamers might ask around town. If they do, they will find that the animal has already been caught. They will meet up with Gregory Onyett, famed hunter. He must be persuaded to give information about who he sold the beast to. He sold it to “Tiger,” A black market animal dealer in Gutu, Zimbabwe. The Children of Gaia haven't payed fully, so Tiger gives up their name and location. They are situated outside of Kalengwa in West Lunga national park. You are given a contact within the group. The players are led through a forest full of traps. After a few of the players are trapped at night, tseroka and rivotra will attack. The if a player mingles blood with one of them, they will be subdued. The cats will use any tactics they can. '''Game 17: ' Players are invited to a mansion where they are asked to retrieve a jade wedding ring. They are told that they are the only living things inside the mansion larger than a golf ball. Whoever brings the ring outside of the front door first chooses who gets paid. No leaving before it is found, or you are “killed” (actually just fail). Example intro letter: “Dear name, Please meet me at 1638 Bellview rd in Madison Wisconsin. Further instructions will be given at that time. -signature” They meet up with the harbinger or messenger, who explains the rules to them: * Get the jade wedding ring * First person to bring it outside gets to choose who gets paid * No other living things larger than a golf ball inside house * Nothing can leave or enter during the game or it will be killed * Time limit: Sunrise (about 10 hours) * Perhaps “inside the counts” cryptic message Art rooms have vivisection artwork inside of them. NPC's: The Shapeshifter (played by a ringer). Name: Dougle Keen. Killed his wife when he was drunk. Promised by harbinger to have his wife brought back from the dead if he kills all the people in the mansion before sunrise. Takes the form of a common gamer that the ringer plays, and enters the game. His objective is to lure gamers away form the group (of if they split up, kill them off), and play the gamers against each other. Possess a mouse form (for moving through placed mouseholes by harbinger), werewolf form (people with garou lore would be able to tell it's not real), the gamer's body, “true form,” and a skeleton. Monstrous forms should be able to kill any player who separates from the group. The group should be safe together. The Redshirt: name: Darma Brown. New house gamer. Librarian. Really smart. Old. Dies first. Makes players suspicious of the vet. The Vet: Name: Ensign Franklin James. Hardened army man, killed lotsa guys in 'nam. Retired. Is suspicious, and tries to get the players split up in the beginning. Maybe makes a deal with everyone. Bristling with guns. The shapshifter should have to deal with where he puts his clothes. If his prey runs into the group's room, he takes mouse form and runs through a mouse hole. If the group is adamant at staying together, the ringer should separate himself from the group, and try to bring someone with him (bathroom, forgot something). The GM should hook them, tell them to roll to see if they forgot something. It's important that the other players don't catch on for a long time. Game 18: I Saw a Highway of Diamonds with Nobody on It The players are brought to a “The Dig” style Atlantis, where they are trapped. Rooms: Orichalcum Tomb Life crystals Library Nest